This story is one of my personal favorites, and according to feedback, is also one of my best. This News feature was written as a form of localized coverage of the wildfires that raged accross South Carolina in 2025. I conducted a 90 minute interview with a local fire-chief who was sent to multiple firest as a part of state-wide effots to help fight the afformentioned fires. I wanted to cover the topic with information for the reader while also providing a personalized story focused on firsthand experience, which tends to be more narratively appealing to a student reader.

The writing of 'Unplanned and Underdeveloped', was suboptimal to say the least. I wrote this story on Mount Pleasant and Charleston County's struggle with gentrification and urban sprawl with the backdrop of the area's rapid growth in mind. Interviews for this story were very diffucult, as I reached out to nine total people and ended up with three interviews, two of which I did 48 hours before print send-off becuase of one previous interview falling through last minute after two reschedules, and becuase the Hannahan Mayor's schedule was very packed. Despite this, I felt like this turned into a very informative piece.

'Schooling without Screens' was one of my first major news stories as a Chief, and I put in a lot of elbow grease to make it happen. For this story, I interviewed knowledge-holders from every level of policy execution within the state. I interviewed four people, I used three interviews but overinterviewing was good becuase it allowed me to best understand the topic. I was able to pin down Wando's School Board Rep right after she won her election, the principal, CCSD's IT head, and a statehouse representative. I wanted to hit every layer of this execution to provide as much information to readers as possible about the policy and who/how it got to them.

This was the first Centerspread Story I ever wrote. It sucked (to write). That said, I was really excited with the idea I had for this story, splitting the story up between interviews from current and former students from the three main electoral perspectives, Democrat, Republican, and Independent. I wanted to cover the election from the student perspective for the student perspective, and to do that I had to find students who were eligible to vote and willing to talk about their perspective, which was a surprisingly hurculean task. I reached out to around 40 people for this story and the only way I was able to get enough interviews was to tap into former student opinions, but overall I do still feel like the story turned out well and it was able to spotlight as many perspectives as I could.

This story was a part of my second senior issue, which is the last issue of the year where we focus on the graduating class and next-year's chiefs take over issue production. As a result of how late this issue is in the year, many senior staffers check out, leaving an undermanned staff. For this reason, I wanted to take on a spread entirely on my own, designed, written, and shot by me. It turned out really well, but that wouldn't have happened if I didn't get strong interviews. For this story, I talked to ECSN's advisor as well as one of their major senior students, the interview with Taylor was one that went past the 30 minute mark, and so was that with her advisor, Mr. Fabiano.

This story was one where my high-level of school involvement served me well. As a student leader in my school's School Improvement Council, I helped plan and schedule this student mental health event 'Screenagers' and becuase I knew all the people surrounding the project, and knew about it before anyone else did, I was able to cover it. I find it very important to build working relationships with key individuals within the communiyt I report on, becuase if I hadn't invested as much into building connections within the community, there is a good chance this story is not what it became and I don't get interviews with all the people I did. 

This story was one of my favorites. I wrote this on a friend of a friend's passion for skateboarding and the interview I had with him was fantastic, I was able to get him to dive into his emotional connection to the hobby and the role it had in his life. Further, I think that part of why he was comfortable sharing this information with me was becuase we had spent time together at the skate park taking pictures and just chatting. It allowed us to build a relationship where he saw the interview as a conversation and not as something like a job interview.

In my process for writing this story, I really wanted to make sure I was able to fully understand the topic and policy, why it was being implimented and how, and what the pros and cons for it are. That was for two reasons, becuase I wanted to inform the student readers (who tend to not know much about stuff like this) as much as possible, while also being able to consider all factors before I wrote the staff editorial on the topic. 

This was one of my earlier stories when I was still really learning some of the basics of written journalism, and it taught me a lot. First, for the key interview with John O'Connor, I had to remember to use the assets around me, most notably, my advisor. I didn't know adult journalists whose experience was relevant to taking a new approach to marketing journalism, but he did. I had to remember to take advantage of my resources. I got on a phone call with O'Connor later in the week and the interview I did with him went really well. 

This was a story that reminded me how important deadlines and budgeting work is. This story was one which was due right after spring break, and was assigned three weeks before then. Me being in my first year on the publication, I procrastinated until it was actually spring break. Luckily, I was able to get in contact with my interviewees and interview them over the phone, writing the story the same day as I did the interviews, but I learned that I needed to budget my time better, becuase doing all that while on break in Nashville was not fun to say the least.

This editorial was one which I really enjoyed writing. Earlier, in 2025, when Trump started to really attack flag burning as 'unconstitutional' I got very upset. I wanted to make a statement about how it is leagal and is a great example of what the lifeblood of our coutry looks like. To really convey that, I wanted to focus on harkening back the ideals of the founding fathers, and showing, through metaphor, why the practice of flag burning is inherintely American. To reinforce my committment to that take, I also chose to burn one myself in protest to really convey my thoughts on the matter.

This was the staff editorial for the phone ban policy mentioned earlier in the portfolio, I felt it was very beneficial for me to write the editorial about the topic after getting the chance to interview people on the ins and outs of the topic. I feel like that allowed me to give the most informed opinion possible which could allow for the most growth.

This was a newsbreif I wrote on the case of the deportation of Abrego Garcia, it occured over spring break and I wrote it while in a hotel in Atlanta after touring the College Football Hall of Fame. I messaged my co-chief and advisor and we decided that it was important enough to cover it even though we were on break. That said, we felt that for immediacy and accuracy, it was best that I wrote it, as I was a chief and had experience writing briefs. Once I was done, I had my co-chief and advisor read it for errors and accuracy.

This was one of my first stories, and it was also one of my favorites. I had heard tell of a local controversity regarding road expansions into a beloved park. I got the chance to cover it since I was the person who knew most about it and I was thrilled. I interviewed some local officals and reached out to other locals for their opinions. I interviewed many of them in person at the local library and it was a really nice experience meeting and learning from (while also challenging) locals and local officals.

Like many of my columns, this one was spontanious. I wrote it in the matter of two hours on a saturday night after seeing so many similar stories about how billionares were benefiting from the stuggles of the american people. I was really frustrated about how people were busy fighting each other (dems vs. reps, citizens vs. immigrants) and not focusing on the people who are causing these problems in the first place. I wanted to convey that message in a way that was a little more poetic than litteral, so this is what came from that.

This is one of a couple entertainment colums I have written, it initally was intended to be a review of The Minecraft Movie, but it became a piece on its cultural ties and impact.

I am a gigantic Kendrick Lamar fan, so the moment this album released, I called dibbs on the review. I like to have fun with my reviews when I can, while also providing genuine information on the topic. This review was one where in the rough draft, I dug deep into the meanings and nuances of the lyrical poetry within the album, but I quickly learned that that approach was not sustainable after my word count went over quadruple digits. I cut it down to a more highlight focused review and I still quite like it how it turned out, though I do wish I could share more about the album.

My co-chief and I tag teamed this topic, she wrote the newsbrief on the topic and I wrote the staff editorial. When I do write staff editorials, it is important to me that I provide as much information to my editors before we form our collective opinion. To do this, I looked into the topic, but also had my co-chief speak on her research on the topic for her newsbrief so we could form an educated opinion.

This is a more recent review that I wrote and it borrowed heavily from what I learned from the Kendrick Lamar/GNX review. I focused on speaking on a couple key points in the album and hitting on the album as a whole rather than diving deep into each song. It allowed me to cover a variety of elements within the album, but still limited me exclusively to the most important ones. I thnk that makes the story more approachable and consumable for a younger audience who often don't wnat to read into every detail of a topic.

This story was a tough one to write, not becuase the interviews were bad, but because the inital pitch was not accurate to the situation. The idea was initally pitched as a girl who got stung by a bee, discovered she was allergic, and then was not able to get treatment at the CAS so she had to walk all the way to Wando so she could get help. After the interivew, the story turned out to be quite simply a small sting that just itched a lot, she was perfectly fine with walking to the school and while there was not a nurse at the CAS, nurses from Wando could have come if she really needed them. So it turned into more of a feature bringing awareness to allergies and being mindful of them.

This was a quick beat I wrote on the bus to the Southern Interscholastic Press Associtation convention in Columbia, S.C. I was told about a big win that our theater program had, and none of my staffers on the bus had their computers with them in their carry-on bags, so I just wrote it. I got an email from the faculty about the competiton wins and so I pulled from that offical information from the theater teacher.

This was a quick column following the 2024 presidential debate, where Trump uttered the infamous 'They're eating the dogs, they're eating the cats' line, which I wrote a quick response on.

Let me first say, I am not a frequent award show viewer, but this year’s Emmys sent a message beyond its own circle of influence. The Emmys handed out some well-deserved statement wins to varying TV series that carried more political capital than many of the more popularly-supported ones did.

The salty ocean air, the smell of pluff mud, seafood restaurants line the streets, yet shrimp boats sit docked at the harbor. This is the scene pictured in the future by local shrimper and president of South Carolina’s Shrimpers Association, Rocky Magwood, as a result of imported shrimp. 

A lawsuit between the Town of Mount Pleasant and the owners of Mount Pleasant’s last undeveloped waterfront property is underway. It will decide if the Republic Tract will become the home of 1,600 new residential units. 

Just like ourselves, all human inventions have positives and negatives. Fossil fuels provide power but hurt the environment, GMOs provide easier-to-grow food, but may not be good for your health or the environment, pesticides protect plants from pests, but also cause toxic runoff. 

Ukraine and Israel are the two places people think of most when modern conflicts are mentioned. What frustrates me is how little people know about all the other conflicts across the world, which are claiming lives and destabilizing entire regions home to millions of people. 

SmartPass: It’s a system that has gained both notoriety and praise from students across the school. It has its supporters and its opposers, both of which aren’t lacking in numbers. 

The latest controversy at Wando has undoubtedly been the implementation of the SmartPass. It has garnered a largely negative reputation from students through limiting the amount of times they can use the restroom.

The Ports: The most direct impact the tariffs will have on the Lowcountry’s industry is through the ports, with a 6% drop when comparing container counts between June of this fiscal year and last. Further, the number of containers with goods fell by 7.5% year-over-year. When taking in the wider view, overall, U.S. ports have been forecasted a 5.6% decline year-over-year in imported cargo by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates. 

When your president doesn’t like having a government, that’s probably a problem. That is the situation in Argentina, where the president identifies himself as an Anarcho-Capitalist, or more simply, an extreme libertarian who believes that the government shouldn’t have a central state, among other controversial beliefs.

It’s not everyday that a whistleblower who is exposing a company’s poor manufacturing processes which are putting 10s of thousands of people’s lives at risk supposedly kills himself right before testifying. But for John Barnett, the whistleblower who came out against Boeing, that’s exactly what happened. 

I am a stark believer in the theory that you don’t get to pick your favorite sports team, it picks you. I know this because if I could have picked my favorite team, it wouldn’t have been the Carolina Panthers.

Throughout history, there have been dynasties that dominated their territories during their rule, such as the Roman Empire, the Mongols, the French Empire, and the Alabama Crimson Tide. 

The last waterfront property in Mount Pleasant, located on Highway 41, might tragically become the new home of 1600 new families. 

Napoleon’s legacy is debatably one of the most influential of any military or political leader in history, so of course there’s going to be a movie about him. 

Dave Feloni’s latest gift to the Star Wars community has come in the form of the “Ahsoka” TV series, which springs off of the already overwhelmingly successful “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and somewhat less, but still popular “Star Wars: Rebels.” 

The sun’s golden morning rays glisten while they sneak between the trees, the lingering smell of sawdust and a natural wooden aroma strike the noses of AP Human Geography teacher Dr. Jason Brisini and the students joining his AP Academy carpenting lesson.